Hi, I’m a teenager with nothing better to do other than school and working out. I’m trying to find as many legends/stories about sunken remnants(trains/other equipment) at the bottom of eastern BWCA lakes. I am trying to use available USGS depth and soil content maps, along with google earth projects mode to try and not only determine if it is possible that such remnants could be at the bottom of the lakes, but also where they might be, and how accessible they might be for possible dives or ROV exploration in the future.

Any story helps!

One story that I have heard tell is that there is a scuttled Alligator Boat at the bottom of Brule Lake. There were a number of logging camps on Brule and remnants of those camps can still be found. An Alligator Boat was a small steam powered flat bottomed boat with paddlewheels and a steel cable winch. Logs were chained together into timber rafts and the Alligator Boat laid out it's cable after it was attached to a anchor point somewhere up to a 1/4 mile from the timber raft. After the Alligator Boat attached itself to the timber raft it slowly winched up the cable pulling itself and the timber raft to the anchor point and then it again laid out the cable to do the next pull. The small boat was able to pull large timber rafts by just using the steam powered winch.

Alligator Boat

Note: The rules of the BWCA are very specific about searching for artifacts.

Thank you!

Just outside the BWCA on Burntside Lake the remains of a logging scow are visible both above and below water.
If you search for “Bull of the Woods Logging Scow” there is a dedicated website with photos and location. There is also a Wikipedia article on it. Someone also commissioned a painting called “The Bull of Burntside” that depicts what it looked like operating. That can be seen among the commissioned works of artist Jim Labernic at Great Lakes Marine and Wildlife Art’s in Duluth on their website. It may be an example of an Alligator boat that OldScout48 referred to.
Fourtown Lake has remains of stuff in the woods and ring hooks in rocks too.

There’s a sunken boat in the Royal River right after you exit John Lake on the far eastern side of the BWCA. It’s in 3-4 feet of water and is clearly visible. That’s all I know of on the Gunflint Side. Lots of stuff on the Ely side. Fourtown (got its name because at one time there were four logging camps on the lake), Horse, and Basswood are full of relics. There’s a steam engine in Hoist Bay of Basswood Lake I believe. It sticks up out of the water a little so it’s easy to spot.
Tony

A 100 year old gold mine between Kelly and Jack lakes. There is old junk everywhere in the woods around there. Another gold mine is on Gold island on Saganaga, lots of metal stuff in the woods. There is remnants of an old logging camp on the south side of Alton lake.

The Spring 2020 issue of The Boundary Waters Journal has a detailed article on historical sites and artifacts still found within the BWCAW. The article is titled 'Paddling Down BWCAW History'. You will likely find that story very pertinent to your research.

Get in touch with Dave Battistel, the author behind all this. He's a history teacher in Thunder Bay and I imagine he'll be thrilled to hear from a student. His e-mail address is padwrr@shaw.ca

Gunflint & Lake Superior Railroad

Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway

Thank you all!

There is a mine on the Canadian side of the western end of Mountain Lake.
I don’t know anything more than that...about the mine.

Back in 1968, I stumbled across evidence of prospecting on That Man Lake in Quetico. Years later, I found out they were prospecting for silver. Racks and racks full of core samples.

You might find some possibilities in Topozone

I found a note once about a steam engine in Daniels lake, but the trail went cold. There was a logging railroad along the ENE side of the lake, so it’s at least plausible. Maybe something to hunt for and let us know about it.

I could go on for hours about the history I remember. My first trip to the B-Dub was in a car. My grandfather he had a spear- dark house on Basswood. There was a plowed road from Ely right to it. I know of more than a dozen Indian burial grounds in the B-Dub. I had a Chippewa friend Tommy Chosa that had a couple of cabins that I stayed in on Basswood. I also stayed at Basswood lodge and friends cabins scattered around the lake. If you could drain Basswood you would find more garbage than in a dump.

I remember boat houses on Basswood up until about 1970.
Comercial fishing was also big in the B=Dud. More than 2 tons of fish came out of Basswood a day.
There used to by a boat ramp on the Range River for motor boats with direct access to the BWCA. I can think of a dozen old cars scattered around in the woods and water. Many of the small islands still have tie downs rings from the old logging tugs. I think Basswood had more than 6 tugs. Bellow a couple of links people might enjoy.

Hundreds of mines in the B-Dub. Copper, Nickle, Silver, Gold, etc..

Check these links out.
Basswood Lake.

Historic Basswood with many stories and pictures.

Ive lived in the area my whole life. There are tons of remnants of industry and civilization all over the b dub. Most notably, there’s supposedly a small logging train that went through the ice one winter on the bottom of trout lake north of vermillion. I have no idea if it’s true or not but I’ve heard the story from many different people over the years.

Don't forget to check out the history thread on this forum. Great stuff there

There is a sunken steam engine in Hoist Bay, off the end of the 4-mile portage. Someone on this site has a photo of it in his trip report.

I am currently reading a beautiful book: Border Country: The Northwoods Canoe Journals of Howard Greene 1906-1916. It's hard to imagine that he carried very hefty photographic equipment on these trips, but he did, and the book is loaded with old photos. In 1911 he took a picture of a sunken steamer in Dore Lake, while on their Dawson Trail Trip.